Numerical Analysis of Unidirectional GFRP Composite Mechanical Response Subjected to Tension Load using Finite Element Method

Composite material is a well-known structural material which is increasingly adopted as an engineering structure material. Glass fiber reinforced polymer offers the lightweight and high strength characteristics that is required for the modern industry, such as aviation, automotive, wind power, and marine technology. One of the important mechanical characteristics of the composite materials are the tensile properties, because it is well known as the material strength. Therefore, the investigation of mechanical response on the glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) tensile test using numerical analysis is important for the estimation of structural response of the GFRP complex structure, such as boat construction. The objective of this research is to assess and estimate the mechanical response of the GFRP composite material subjected to tension load using finite element method. The linear transversely isotropic model is developed to estimate the unidirectional glass fiber GFRP with the configuration of fiber orientation angles of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°. The results show that FE simulation are capable to detect the specimen response during the tensile test. The maximum discrepancy of the estimated stress strain diagram is about 16.5% to 32% compared to experimental data. The larger orientation angle has shown the larger discrepancy value. It is found that the increment of discrepancy value is generated by the nonlinearity behavior of the material due to the domination of polymer material behavior on the large orientation angle. Otherwise, the FE models have estimated accurately the ultimate strength, maximum displacement and fracture load. It can be concluded that the linear transversely isotropic model is adequately accepted as the estimation method of the GFRP composite structure response.